Canterbury Crown Court Sentencing Results

Alexandru Cercel, aged 39, formerly of Homestead Road, Dagenham, was part of an organised shoplifting gang that stole at least £34,500 worth of champagne and spirits from supermarkets including Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, and Sainsbury’s. The gang targeted stores in Cambridge, Ipswich, Basildon, Beccles, Great Yarmouth, Norwich, Diss, Canvey Island, and Hertford between October 2021 and June 2023, stealing up to £3,000 worth of alcohol per raid and returning to the same store up to five times a day. Nine offences were in Norfolk and seven in Suffolk, accounting for £16,000 of stolen alcohol. He was arrested at Dover docks on 1 July 2023 trying to leave the country.

Alexksander Caushi, 31, was arrested while hiding in the rafters of a building on Park Farm Industrial Estate in Folkestone which contained more than 2,000 cannabis plants spread over two floors, along with heating, growing equipment and chemicals. The growing area was hidden behind a false front office. Kent Police executed a warrant on Friday 28 July 2023.

Adam Fleming carried out a violent assault on a woman at his address in Ramsgate on Monday 11 January 2021. He called 999 downplaying her injuries. Paramedics found her with a serious head injury and extreme bruising to her face; firefighters assisted in bringing her down the stairs. She was airlifted to a London hospital. Fleming claimed he found her like that and heard a thud, denying involvement. He was arrested and charged with grievous bodily harm with intent.

Adam Woolnough, 36, was invited to stay with a friend in Browning Place, Folkestone, but subjected the victim (in his 50s) to multiple threats. On 1 October 2020, he punched the victim in the face several times for around five minutes. When the victim sought help from a church community worker, Woolnough waited, threatened him with a hammer, kicked and punched his head and body, then held a bread knife to his throat, causing fear for his life. The victim suffered a hand injury escaping. Police were called; Woolnough was detained en route to the church and spat at the officer.

Aiden Hubbard-Stewart, subject to a non-molestation order, approached the victim and another woman at Canterbury East railway station on 11 June, slapped the victim in the face and stole her mobile phone, which he later returned via a relative. He then repeatedly contacted the witness to pressure her to withdraw evidence. On 7 July, after the order expired, he followed the victim in the Forty Acres Road area of Canterbury, made threats and punched her to the ground, causing serious injuries requiring long-term medical treatment. He was arrested on 10 July while trying to climb out of a window in Cliftonville.

Arber Rama was driving along Canterbury Road in Densole, near Folkestone, at around 6.45pm on Thursday 15 November 2018 when his Mercedes car collided with a motorbike travelling in the opposite direction after overtaking in foggy conditions. His vehicle was on the wrong side of the road, straddling the centre line, causing fatal injuries to the 25-year-old motorcyclist who died at the scene and knocking over a pedestrian who suffered a hairline fracture to her leg.

Palushi was arrested alongside Hadushaj in Tunbridge Wells with 60 deals of cocaine and more than £8,000 cash in their vehicle.

Mataj acted as a street dealer for the gang, arrested with four wraps of cocaine and £1,200 during the police crackdown in Tunbridge Wells.

Allan Macdonald, 60, ex-policeman son-in-law of the victim's daughter, of Burnt Barn Cottages, Betteshanger, Kent, benefited from £57,000 stolen from dementia sufferer the victim's bank account by the victim's daughter, who held power of attorney. The money was spent on luxuries including cars, caravan, holidays, and other items.

Alminas Satas was part of a trio linked to the thefts of 29 vehicles from Ashford, Hawkinge, Tonbridge, Tenterden and Maidstone in October and November 2022. They used an electronic device to capture signals emitted by car keys and trick vehicles into thinking keys were present. The thieves travelled from east London in vehicles with cloned number plates, targeting BMWs, Mercedes and Range Rovers in Kent, which were then driven to Essex and London to be stripped and sold for parts. Satas was arrested on 8 December 2022 near Sittingbourne along with Seluks.

On the evening of Friday 28 April 2023, Andrew Maloney, 55, from Romney Marsh, was out in Lydd when he became aggressive towards a man at premises in the High Street who had intervened in a conversation between Maloney and a third man. Maloney produced a knife, causing a disturbance that other members of the public tried to calm. Despite the knife being moved to a place of safety, Maloney climbed over a counter to retrieve it before leaving the scene. An investigation led to his arrest.

Andrius Petrauskas was involved in keyless thefts of seven Mercedes and a BMW from outside owners' homes in Folkestone, Maidstone, Tonbridge and Gravesend in Kent, and Welwyn, Hertfordshire and Hockley, Essex, between 24 March and 15 April. Two other vehicles linked to the thefts. Arrested in Eltham, south-east London on 20 April following stop of one stolen vehicle on M25 slip-road in Essex.

Amarildo Buzi was found at an industrial unit in Ashford where Kent Police uncovered 930 cannabis plants with a street value of £650,000 following a search warrant in October 2020. A sophisticated cannabis cultivation setup was spread across a large warehouse in Lower Queens Road. He was arrested on 13 October along with Edison Cifliku.

Christopher Ball, 50, from Ashford, was arrested at his home in Kilndown Close in January 2020 after police received information he had posted an indecent image on Facebook. Investigation uncovered over 1,200 category A indecent images on his computers. Evidence showed he set up and managed online chat rooms sharing over 400 indecent images and clips, and repeatedly tried to contact children online between November 2019 and January 2020 to incite sexual acts.

On 1 June 2018, Christopher Godden was driving a grey Volkswagen Golf in Fordwich with two friends. He was speeding excessively with music blaring, causing passengers to fear for their safety. Despite being asked to slow down, he lost control near the junction of Moat Lane and High Street, crashing head-on into another vehicle. Godden fled the scene, leaving a 26-year-old female friend seriously injured with life-changing injuries and a 30-year-old male passenger also seriously hurt. He handed himself in at Folkestone police station the next day, admitting he was the driver. Police tests showed he was three times over the legal drug limit for BZE, a cocaine metabolite. He claimed he ran away due to shock.

Christopher Marlborough-Jones, 33, of no fixed address, threw a safe at a woman known to him in the Spring Lane area of Canterbury in May 2021 before threatening her and telling her not to give a statement, saying he would kill her if she supported a prosecution. He contacted the victim in September and October 2021 in breach of a restraining order, failed to notify police of his address in September 2021 as required under the Sex Offenders Register, bought a mobile phone and set up a Facebook account in breach of his SHPO, and sent abusive messages to another woman known to him.

Christopher Pain, 57, of Brook Lane, Sellindge, started a fire in the living room of his property at Brook Lane Cottages on 3 May 2021 after refusing to engage with police who were called at 12.40am due to concerns he had a knife and was threatening to injure himself. He shouted abuse and barricaded doors. Officers Sergeant James Cattermole and PC Louis Southon entered the burning building, smashed windows, and rescued him despite resistance. Extensive fire damage was caused but no serious injuries.

On Sunday 18 April 2021, Carl Simpson, 36, from Durham, consumed several pints of lager at pubs in Lydd and New Romney before driving a white BMW with two friends as passengers. He drove along the A259 and Romney Road at speeds up to 126mph, veering onto the wrong side of the road, and collided with the victim's Dacia Duster at about 6.20pm, less than eight minutes after his last drink. All three victims died at the scene. Simpson’s blood alcohol was 191mg (over double the 80mg limit). He was injured, arrested, and CCTV and data confirmed high speeds.

Claudiu Patrascu, driving a blue Mazda he had taken without permission, with no driving licence, uninsured and with a false numberplate, turned right at the junction into Faulkner's Lane from the A2050 near Harbledown on 26 August 2023 at around 12.55pm, colliding with a motor-tricycle travelling towards the A2 from Canterbury. The rider, the victim, suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene. Patrascu fled the scene without offering assistance. He was arrested the next day at his address in Dunkirk. Forensic evidence confirmed his presence via DNA and fingerprint. A witness reported his bad driving prior to the collision.

Craig Judd was involved in an altercation in Fulham Avenue, Garlinge in the early hours of Sunday 13 August 2023, during which he stabbed a man multiple times, causing grievous bodily harm. The victim was taken to a London hospital for life-saving treatment. Judd sustained an eye injury, was seen shouting before swinging a knife at the victim, and discouraged members of the public from helping the injured man.

Curtis Pettman, 23, of no fixed address, seriously injured his victim with a 50cm machete during an argument over a moped in Margate on Tuesday 27 July 2021. The victim challenged Pettman at a property in Denton Way after believing he was involved in an attempted theft of his moped the previous day. Pettman took the victim's moped keys and threw them on a roof. A dog bit the victim, then Pettman emerged with the machete and swung it six or seven times. The victim protected himself with his hand, sustaining serious injury. Police were called; Pettman fled but was arrested the same day, linked via a bloodstained dressing gown.

Daniel Davis, formerly of Broadstairs, committed non-recent child abuse offences over a number of years, including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, five counts of sexually assaulting a boy, and four counts of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child. He carried out some abuse while believing the victim was asleep and performed sexual acts on himself in the same room as the victim. The victim disclosed the abuse to his mother in 2019, prompting a Kent Police investigation.

Daniel Farrier, from Ramsgate in Kent, was arrested on 15th May 2018 after officers from the National Crime Agency linked him to a package intercepted in November 2017. Border Force detected a parcel from China containing 107g of fentanyl at the Coventry International Postal hub. Investigators also linked him to the supply of class A drug MDMA, as well as class B and C drugs diazepam, alprazolam, steroids and cannabis resin.

Daniel Haine stabbed his victim in the back following an argument between a group of people in Ramsgate High Street in April 2022. He tried to evade capture by changing his appearance, discarding some of his clothing, the weapon, coat, and balaclava. The attack was caught on CCTV, leading to his identification and arrest two days later. The victim suffered a punctured lung, and injuries to his liver and diaphragm, requiring considerable time in hospital.

Donna Grant, aged 52, was driving under the influence of cannabis at 45 mph in a 30 mph zone on Crabble Hill, Dover, on Thursday 17 December 2020 at around 8.40pm when she hit a pedestrian courier in the dark, propelling him into a skip under a low wall where his body was found shortly after. She slowed but did not stop, drove home to Fairway Avenue, Folkestone, phoned her insurance, claimed she thought she hit an animal or bollard, and searched the internet for 'hit and runs' and 'body found in Dover'. Traces of cannabis were found in her bloodstream; car damage including wing mirror, light, and windscreen confirmed involvement.

Dimitar Dimitrov, 41, from Pazardzhik in Bulgaria, smuggled Bulgarian antiquities worth an estimated £76,110 into the UK hidden inside a trailer full of trousers at the Port of Dover on Tuesday 27 October 2020. The artefacts included ancient coins, pendants, brooches, statues and spearheads, concealed within two black packages taped onto an airline in the vehicle’s chassis rail. He initially denied knowledge of the items but evidence including messages on his mobile phone indicated he planned to deliver them to another member of the organised crime group for sale to antique collectors in London.

Edison Cifliku was found at an industrial unit in Ashford where Kent Police uncovered 930 cannabis plants with a street value of £650,000 following a search warrant in October 2020. A sophisticated cannabis cultivation setup was spread across a large warehouse in Lower Queens Road. He was arrested on 13 October along with Amarildo Buzi.